Emergent BioSolutions is expanding one of its two Baltimore manufacturing facilities. And the state of Maryland is helping the biopharmaceutical company with a $2 million conditional loan from the Department of Business and Economic Development’s Maryland Economic Development Assistance Authority and Fund.

Emergent BioSolutions is expanding one of its two Baltimore manufacturing facilities. And the state of Maryland is helping the biopharmaceutical company with a $2 million conditional loan from the Department of Business and Economic Development’s Maryland Economic Development Assistance Authority and Fund.

The expansion project is expected to double the 58,000 square feet of space at the company’s plant on Lombard Street. It will also create 158 new jobs over the next four years. The expanded facility will include additional manufacturing, quality control labs and warehouse space. According to BioSpace.com, Emergent BioSolutions will invest $60 million in the project. It will break ground later this year.

The biopharmaceutical company also recently expanded its headquarters in Gaithersburg. Combined, the two expansion projects are expected to create almost 300 new jobs. And, according to DBED Secretary Mike Gill, they will also help solidify Maryland’s position as a life sciences powerhouse.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services committed $222 million in 2012 to help Emergent BioSolutions establish its Lombard Street facility, as a Center for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing, to facilitate advanced development of medical countermeasures and provide domestic surge manufacturing capabilities to address public health threats. The company was hired by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority to develop the experimental Ebola drug called ZMapp. It also manufactures BioThrax, the only FDA-licensed vaccine for the prevention of anthrax disease.